NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2015: Friday's Sweet 16 Schedule, Predictions
The 2015 NCAA women's tournament has seen some of the usual suspects make it to the Sweet 16, but there are still some surprise contenders ready to shake up the proceedings.
UConn has—surprise, surprise—stomped its way to the third round of this tournament with 56- and 36-point victories, while Baylor and South Carolina have made mincemeat of their opposition as well.
Eleventh-seeded Gonzaga is in the midst of a surprise run, having upset No. 6 George Washington and No. 3 Oregon State to set up a date with No. 2 Tennessee.
There is plenty to like about this tournament and plenty more hoops to come at this stage.
Here's a look at Friday's slate of Sweet 16 action (with picks), followed by a preview of the can't-miss game of the evening.
Friday Schedule
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| No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 North Carolina | 7 p.m. | ESPN | Greensboro, N.C. | South Carolina |
| No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 3 Iowa | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2 | Oklahoma City, Okla. | Baylor |
| No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 3 Arizona State | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN2 | Greensboro, N.C. | Arizona State |
| No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Stanford | 10 p.m. | ESPN | Oklahoma City, Okla. | Notre Dame |
Note: Live streams can be found at WatchESPN.
Matchup to Watch
No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 UNC
If you have to see just one game on Friday, you're going to take the Battle of the Carolinas in Greensboro, North Carolina, right?
This game has all the makings of a hotly contested, regional affair, and there's a kicker: UNC defeated South Carolina 65-58 in the Sweet 16 of last year's tournament. While that might make it seem like the Tar Heels have the mental edge in this one, it would be tough to sway the confidence of South Carolina after its sterling tournament performances thus far.
The Gamecocks—who for many weeks were the top-ranked team in the country, until UConn rudely ousted them from that spot on Feb. 9—should be rolling into this matchup with plenty of swagger. They steamrolled Syracuse 97-68 in the round of 32 and dropped No. 16 Savannah State 81-48 to open the competition.
Five South Carolina players scored in double figures against 'Cuse, with Alaina Coates and Tiffany Mitchell tying for the team lead with 14 points apiece.
The Tar Heels can't boast the same level of dominance, but they may be riding into this game with spirits just as high as South Carolina's after their last game.
Jamie Cherry lifted UNC to an 86-84 win over Ohio State on Tuesday, sinking a late jumper with just 0.6 seconds remaining. While Cherry may be the one to keep an eye on in crunch time, the Gamecocks will have to worry about Stephanie Mavunga from tipoff to final buzzer.
Mavunga, averaging 14.5 points per game this season, went off on the Buckeyes, scoring 27 points and 14 rebounds. Lori Schmidt of 97.1 The Fan noted she was pouring it on early in that contest:
Of course, star players putting on star performances won't be all that the favored South Carolina squad has to worry about. USC head coach Dawn Staley is worried about the Tar Heels' uptempo playing style.
“They rely on you turning the ball over by playing at their tempo,” Staley said, via The State's David Cloninger. “For us, it’s familiar when playing against UNC—we just have to make adjustments. We have to play to our strength, and our strength isn’t always playing fast. It’s playing calculated.”
Of course, keeping the scoreline suppressed didn't work out so well for the Gamecocks last year in this situation when they took a loss and the two teams scored a combined 123 points.
The crowd could play a factor in this one, but the Gamecocks will have to hope their fans show up on Friday to combat what is likely to be a mostly pro-UNC contingent in Greensboro.
This game will likely come down to which team controls the pace of the contest. If Staley can marshal her players into a measured, concerted, evenly paced effort, her more talented squad should prevail in this one.
Prediction: South Carolina 74-70 UNC
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